


Never The Same

by JennJarvis20



Category: AU - Fandom, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-30
Updated: 2016-06-20
Packaged: 2018-07-11 04:14:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7028110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JennJarvis20/pseuds/JennJarvis20
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So this is set in an alternate universe where the character of Aaron is straight. I admit it. I have a huge crush on Ross Marquand and this is what drove me to write this. It follows Aaron and his girlfriend Emilie Delvalle, who was a member of Rick's group in my AU. It's my first venture into AU fanfic so I honestly hope you guys like it. I'm pretty proud of it. It's a little smutty, little silly, little sad. it starts just before the episode where the raid on the Saviors compound. It's going to end up multiple chapters for sure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. new love, new happiness

The sun beats down on the little village of Alexandria. Emilie and Aaron are sitting on their front porch with iced tea in glasses next to them.  
"I love you," Emilie says with a smile.  
"Where did that come from?" Aaron puts his arm around his girlfriend.  
"I just love you and I'm happy that we're together in a safe place with no one to worry about and a life outside of the walkers or roamers or whatever everyone is calling them now. I haven't even had to worry about you going on a supply run in a long time. I feel like this is all to perfect and might end."  
"You know what would make this even more perfect? If you would marry me?" Aaron asks Emilie.. She is so shocked, she almost spills her iced tea as she turns to face Aaron.  
"You... Did you just... Did you just ask me to marry you?"  
"And what if I did? I think I need an answer." Aaron reaches into the top pocket of his plaid shirt and pulls out a gold ring with a small blue stone in it. He kneels down with the ring. "I'm not sure what the stone is. Carol said she thinks that it might be a sapphire. We found it on a run at this pawn broker thing store. I've been saving it ever since. I know it's not a diamond, but you deserve..."  
Emilie puts her finger to Aaron's lips. "Shh," she tells him. "I will absolutely absolutely marry you!" She puts the ring on her finger and pulls Aaron in for a long passionate kiss. Carol, who is walking by as Emilie and Aaron are kissing calls out to them.  
"Did he finally ask you to marry him?"  
Yes I did! And she said yes," Aaron shouts to Carol, and Emilie hold up her hand to show the ring on her finger.  
"Bout time Aaron... About damn time! Congratulations kids!" Carol waves to them as she walks away.  
"You have made me so incredibly happy." Emilie takes Ross's face in her hands and kisses it.


	2. Things unravel.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The title says it all

A month passes from that day; happiness and hopes for the future have been all but dashed as a result of a new group in the area led by a man names Negan. A raid was led by Rick on a compound that held the Saviors, who were Negan's men. Aaron took place in it, as did Carol, who was one of Emilie's closest friends and confidantes. Emilie didn't handle either of them going well. She spent the entire time that they were gone crying to Baby Judith who didn't respond to her. When they came back from the mission, everyone looked beaten down and worn out. Emilie ran out of the house, eager to see her fiancee, and he just seemed out of it. Aaron had a large deep scratch on the side of his face. "What did they do to you," she asks gently touching his face. "I was so worried about you. I'm so glad you're okay though."  
"I...I don't want to talk about what happened Em... I just want to take a shower and go to bed."  
"But..."  
Aaron hands his gun off to Michonne. "No Em. Come on. Let's go back to the house." Aaron grabs Emilie's arm. She gets frustrated and yanks it away. They get into the house and close the door behind. Aaron takes off his windbreaker and throws it in a heap on the floor.   
"Why won't you talk to me Aaron? What happened there? Emilie confronts him immediately. "What did they do to you? How did your face get scratched?"  
Aaron throws his hands up in frustration. "What I saw in there, and what we had to do Em... None of that was okay. I was pinned down, and Rosita shot the man in the head. His skull broke and the shards cut my face. I thought I was going to die in there and all I could think was that I would never be able to see you ever again. And the thought of that was unbearable!" He gets progressively angrier. "Are you happy now? What else would you like to know?! I killed about half a dozen men and all I could think about was never seeing you ever again." Aaron storms off upstairs, and Emilie stands there unmoved. Tears roll down her cheeks. Upstairs she hears the water running. She picks up Aaron's navy blue windbreaker and sees more blood than she'd like to. Her hands shake as she puts it in a bucket of water to soak.  
"I could have lost him," she mumbles to herself. Emilie walks upstairs, and the shower is still running. She walks into the bathroom quietly. Emilie steps out of her jeans and underwear. She takes off her sweater and bra and puts them to the side on the floor near her jeans. She pulls the shower curtain back and steps into the shower.  
"I'm so sorry Emilie," Ross says to her with sad eyes.  
"You don't need to apologize." Emilie takes a wash cloth and wipes away the blood splatters on Aaron's face. Aaron reciprocates by pulling Emilie in to him to begin kissing her with the water running down both of their bare bodies. Ross's hands are all over Emilie,cupping her bare backside and squeezing slightly. Emilie grasps Aaron's now erect member, pumping it up and down slowly as she kisses him. Aaron kisses Emilie's mouth, neck, shoulders, and breasts. He picks Emilie up, propping her against the shower wall as he enters her. She lets out a breathy gasp full of burning want.  
"Don't stop," she cries out.  
Aaron grinds into Emilie, their hips moving in unison as the hot shower water runs over their bare bodies. They continue to move in gentle unison, reaching a screeching halt as they climax together.  
"Oh god," Emilie cries out. She falls forward into Aaron as he catches her. He holds Emilie tightly.  
"Don't ever leave me." Aaron and Emilie finish rinsing and get out of the shower. Aaron wraps a towel around his waist. Emilie puts on a bathrobe and wraps her hair in a towel. "Can we just lay together the rest of the night," Aaron asks her. "I just want to be near you."  
Emilie doesn't respond but kisses Aaron's lips. Aaron leads Emilie over to the bed. He begins to kiss her again, although there is more pain behind these. He is kissing her to forget the slaughter he just took part in. Every time that he closes his eyes, awake or not, he sees that man's skull exploding in front of his face. Aaron pulls the blanket protectively over his and Emilie's naked bodies.  
"I don't want to sleep," Aaron says.  
"It's almost 2 a.m. Hunny. I spent the past day and a half worrying about you. We just had sex. I'm tired and really need to sleep. Plus I'm having breakfast at Carol's tomorrow morning."  
"I just don't think that I can shut my eyes," Aaron explains to Emilie. She crawls over next to him in bed.  
"I will try my best Aaron. I don't know how long I will be able


	3. moving forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An in-betweeny kind of chapter where I build relationships

Aaron wraps his arms around Emilie tightly. She puts her head on his bare chest. He kisses her forehead. Unfortunately Emilie is asleep within minutes. Aaron has fallen asleep But unfortunately he has also fallen into a fairly violent nightmare. He's shaking, sweat is pouring down his face, and he is wincing in pain. Emilie is woken up by how violently Aaron is shaking. She tries to wake him up. "Babe! Babe! Aaron, babe! Wake up!"  
Aaron shoots up like a lightning bolt. "Nooooo!" he cries out.  
"Babe, you're okay. You were having a bad nightmare. You're safe now." Emilie does her best to try and soothe Aaron.  
"I was back there again. I know that man would have killed me if Rosita didn't kill him first... But I just can't get the image of him out of my head."   
Emilie tries to hold Aaron. His body is cold and clammy.  
"I didn't want to kill those people Em. I killed six people in there... Six people for being on the wrong side. We didn't have to to raid that compound and kill those people. If Darryl and Rick never bumped into Jesus, we could have went our whole life here not worrying about anything else."  
"You don't know that is how we'd end up Aaron. But it's done, and I know you did what you had to and you did it for us."  
"Honey. You're not making it any better you know?" He frowns and kisses Emilie's forehead. "I just want to forget about walkers, or roamers , or whatever. I want to forget that there's a group of psychos out there trying to kill us and just be us."  
Suddenly Emilie interrupts him. "Shit!! I have to meet Carol for breakfast at her place." She jumps up and begins to get dressed.  
You can do that if you want. I think I'm going to just lay in bed naked all morning until you get back."  
"Are you trying to make me late?"  
"Just remember that this is waiting for you when you get back." Aaron pulls back the sheet to show his naked body.  
"I...Yeah...I need to go. Don't miss me too much." Emilie heads off to have breakfast with Carol. As she is walking out of her and Aaron's house, she sees a couple of the other Alexandrians walking around. The mood just seems off among the people that she sees. There's a cold chill of fall in the air this morning. She sees Glenn and Abraham carrying something to the gate. Emilie gets to Carol's and she is already waiting on the porch for her.   
"Bout time you got here!" Carol calls out to her.  
"I tried to get out of the house but... got... distracted." Emilie's face flushes with embarrassment.   
"Would that distraction include your very handsome, curly-haired husband-to-be?"  
"Carol! I'm a good girl!"  
"Even good girls sin every once in awhile!" Carol lets out a loud belly laugh.  
"You're horrible Ms. Pelletier! But quite fun. What's for breakfast?"  
Carol stands up and smiles. "Pancakes with strawberries sound good? I've been cultivating my own strawberry plant that I've been hiding so that no one notices. That way I can have them all to myself." Emilie follows Carol into the house, then into the kitchen. "I have French Roast brewing. Do you want it with some Bailey's I snatched on our last supply run?  
"You found Bailey's!? I always knew we were friends for a reason! Pour it up!"  
"Darryl would be so mad if he knew I wasn't sharing with him, but I like you better. You shower more than once a month." Carol and Emilie laugh hysterically. Carol prepares the pancakes after pouring two Irish coffees. she puts sugar  
and some of the fresh strawberries on top. Emilie takes a bite and sighs.  
"Carol! These are so good! I think it's got to have been at least 3 or 4 years since I've had any fresh strawberries. Thank you so much! Aaron would be so jealous."  
"Speaking of which, how was he when he got back? We all went through some serious shit in that Saviors' compound."  
"I couldn't really get a whole lot out of him," Emilie explains. "He said if it weren't for Rosita, I may not longer have him in my life though. Did you see that happen Carol?"  
Carol frowns. "I didn't but I did hear about it. Things in that compound were bad Em. I can see why Aaron wants to protect you though."  
"But I don't need to be protected! You know that! He had such awful nightmares last night that his shaking woke me up. I've made it this far though. I'd think that counts for something. Remember what happened with Beth? I'm able to protect myself from walkers at least." Emilie tries to stand up for herself, much to no avail.  
"Killing a walker is totally different than what happened in that compound. We were killing people in cold blood. They were living breathing humans. Walkers are already dead."  
"But walkers were human at one point. They were still alive. What's going to happen if this Negan and his men attack here? I'll have no choice."  
"You just won't stop, will you? Well I'll give you one thing, you're persistent," Carol pauses. "I will teach you to shoot later. Meet me at the North Watchtower." She sees Emilie stick her tongue out at her. "I have the right mind to take that Bailey's away from you."  
Emilie and Carol finish up their breakfast. Emilie heads back to hers and Aaron's house, but she was asked to drop a plate of pancakes off at Maggie's by Carol so she stops there first. She knocks on the front door, and Maggie answers moments later.  
"Heeey Em. What are you doing here?" Maggie asks.  
"Carol asked me to bring these over for you. She said you and the baby needed them." Emilie hands Maggie the covered plate of pancakes. She notices Maggie's complexion is a pale ashen shade of grey. "Are you okay?"  
"It's just a bit of morning sickness. I'll be okay though."   
"Well hopefully these help. I had some and they were ah-mazing. But Mags, seriously. I'm only a couple houses away if you need anything. I know we weren't always the closest but your sister Beth was my best friend. If you need anything please let me help you. Promise."  
"Thanks Emilie. That's very sweet of you."  
"Okay well I'm going back, but Carol says enjoy." Emilie heads down Maggie and Glenn's stairs. when she gets closer to her house, she sees Aaron waiting on the front porch. "Damn it! Why aren't you still naked? I was looking forward to that." Aaron laughs at her in response.


	4. Vodka fuels my fires

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new drama filled fun chapter

"Well I could get naked pretty quickly if you're in the mood for a second round. It is kind of exhibition-y out here and my pale Irish ass might frighten the neighbors."  
Emilie laughs whole-heartedly. "But I think your pale ass is pretty cute." This causes Aaron to smile goofily. "It's so much better seeing you smile Aaron. I know you went through a lot in that compound. Just know that I am always here for you no matter what." She sits down and cuddles up close to Aaron with her arms around him. Aaron kisses her forehead gently. "How did we get here?"  
"Well if you want the truth, I was out on a recruiting mission and stumbled upon a group led by a man who, although I know better now, I thought was this crazy beast monster. I wasn't initially going to bring you guys to Alexandria but the cool guy on the motorcycle was just so awesome and then I saw this girl with auburn curly hair and the brightest of blue eyes. And she just had this infectious laugh... And I just thought shiiiiiiiittttt she's beautiful and needed to make her my girlfriend and the motorcycle guy my best friend... And I succeeded and now she's not only my girlfriend, she's my fiancee."  
"Our life sounds like a really fucked up chick flick. Especially when you say it was all set against the backdrop of a zombie apocalypse you know?" Emilie puts her head deeper into Aaron's shoulder. "Do you think we're safe? Do you think we can finally be safe here?"  
"All I can say is I will do whatever I possibly am capable of to ensure that you are kept safe and away from harm."  
"Carol's going to teach me how to shoot later," Emilie blurts out.  
"Oh really?" Aaron laughs.  
"Yup, and I'm going to learn so that I can protect myself and protect you too," Emilie says and Aaron laughs even harder. "What is so funny about me doing that? If I remember you weren't too efficient with a gun until you became friends with Darryl! I want to prove to myself that I'm capable of being a protector too!"  
"Em, you don't have to do this. I will always be there for you."  
Emilie becomes visibly shaken and frustrated. "I'm sick of being treated like I'm just some dumb bimbo girl that doesn't know how to take care of herself. Well I've gotten this far and I'm still alive! I've survived seeing my best friend Beth getting murdered! I held Tyreese's body in my lap as he took his last breath. I may not have had to kill six big bad Saviors like you but I've been through a lot of bad shit in my life! Do you not get that?!" Emilie stands up full of anger.  
"Where are you going Em?" Aaron asks her. "You know I'm sorry. I just don't want to see you hurt Emilie. You mean too much to me."  
"You know what Aaron?! Fuck you!" Emilie angrily points at Aaron's chest, grabs her pack, and heads off in a huff. She doesn't even give Aaron a changes to try and stop her.  
When Emilie gets far enough away, she has to stop regain her composure. Part of her wants to just take off and leave Alexandria for a very long time. She though about going to the abandoned lake house that she found the one day she had a fight with Aaron and stormed off on her own. But it all ended when she remembered that there was still a group of psycho killers that her friends just pissed off out there. Emilie decided that because she still had some time before she was going to meet Carol that she would go to the one place that she knew she could be alone. There was an abandoned house not in use or near anyone else's. When Emilie needed time to herself, that was the place that she would always go. She got to the house, quickly walked over to the fridge, and grabbed the bottle of vodka that she had been stashing in there. She took a mug out of the cupboard and poured herself a drink. "Fuck this. Fuck Aaron. Fuck Negan. Fuck the Saviors. Fuck the zombie apocalypse. Just..." She drinks the entire mug of vodka, pours herself another two and drinks those too. "Why did I ever leave my home? I would have made it. I would've learned to survive. I'm strong. I really don't care what anyone thinks. I can protect myself."  
"You have vodka, and you're not sharing? Fuck you Em," a voice behind her says.  
Emilie jerks around and it's Spencer. She sets down the mug and takes a long drag directly from her bottle of vodka. "Go away Spencer."  
"I heard what you said. I've know you awhile now, and I know girls like you. You're all sweet and innocent then make you mad and this raging bad bitch comes out that could probably kill a roamer with her bare hands."  
Emilie drinks more. "Was that supposed to make me feel better? Because you failed."  
"Give me that freakin' bottle." Spencer rips the bottle out of Emilie's hands. He drinks straight from it as well."  
Emilie gets mad at him and pushes Spencer. "Spencer, why are you even here? I'm so sick of putting up with shit from everyone." She tries to get up but promptly falls back. "Shit!"  
"Wow you're so drunk. Why don't you let me help you back to your house. You shouldn't be walking around here by yourself drunk anyways. Aaron's probably worried sick about you."  
"FUCK HIM."  
"Emilie give me your hand." Spencer reaches out to Emilie. She gets angry.  
"Shut up Spencer. no one likes you here anyway. What do you even do here? Just shut up." She pushes at Spencer. It causes him to fall back and her to fall on top of him. Their eyes lock in an uncomfortable stare. "Can you just fuck me?" Emilie asks as she can just think of the fight she had with Aaron. On an impulse, albeit a drunken one, she grabs his Henley and leans forward to begin french-kissing Spencer. She lets his tongue roll around in her mouth and does the same to him. It is an extremely long, lingering kiss. In the middle of it, Emilie passes out cold.  
"Shit!" Spencer gets nervous and moves away. He tries to wake Emilie up, and she doesn't move. "Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Now what the hell am I supposed to do? Well at least she's a pretty good kisser." Spencer laughs to himself. He moves out from underneath Emilie's unconscious body and stands there trying to think of what to do. He tries shaking Emilie, and she is still completely out cold. "Well I guess I can carry you." Spencer scoops up Emilie's limp body. "Lighter than I thought. Good." He takes her out of the house and although he knows Emilie will be furious with him, he takes her back to her and Aaron's house. "I'll just tell Aaron I found her like this." Spencer says to himself. "Yeah that's a good idea."  
Spencer heads off with Emilie's unconscious body bobbling up and down in his arms. He's thankful no one is out to see him with her. Except the second he puts one foot on Emilie and Aaron's porch, Aaron comes charging angrily out of the front door.  
"Oh my God! What did you do to her Spencer? I was so worried about her!"  
"I didn't do anything to her Aaron. I found her like this with an almost empty bottle of vodka next to her. I wanted to make sure that nothing happened to her, so I carried her over to here." Spencer carries Emilie in followed by Aaron. "Why didn't you know where she was? Were you two fighting?"  
"Don't worry about it Spencer. Just put her on the couch." Aaron leads Spencer over to his couch. When Spencer puts Emilie on the couch, she is heard groaning painfully.  
"Ugggh," she says covering her eyes to shield them. Aaron runs to Emilie's side.  
"What have you done?" Aaron asks her.  
"Oh my god! Why am I back her? Freaking Spencer. I'm going to punch him in that big mouth of his," Emilie rambles angrily. Spencer walks up to her, and Emilie glares at him. "Of course you screw up everything."  
"Fuck off Emilie, you drunk ass. You're lucky that I was there to take you home, or you'd be waking up in your own vomit. I'm over you." Spencer storms off.  
"I think I'm going to barf," Emilie reveals and Aaron hands her the garbage can. He also gives her a dirty look. "What? I was super drunk and you pissed me off and the last thing that I remember is yelling at Spencer, and then..." Emilie trails off and throws up again into the garbage can. "I hate that you give me no credit. I've been through a lot and n one ever trusts me to do a damn thing. And when I finally have a friend that respects me like Carol, my fiancee turns out to be a total asshole." Emilie is still very visibly drunk. She starts crying a drunk, ugly cry. Aaron tried to put his arm around her, but she shakes it off.  
"Come on Em. I'm sorry that we fought. I'll teach you myself if you want to learn to shoot."  
After throwing up a third time, Emilie looks up at Aaron full of anger. "You choose now to try and make up? Really? I'm drunk. I feel like shit. My heart is broken because we fought, and even though you're an asshole I still love you."  
Aaron smiles. "When you ran off, you had me so worried."


	5. Repairing the damage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Repairing the damage done in Chapter 4. There are more chapters to come. Be prepared people!

Emilie doesn't respond, because she has fallen asleep and is lightly snoring. Aaron frowns. "I love you too Emilie. I love you too." He stands up, covers Emilie with a blanket, and kisses her lips softly. Emilie ends up sleeping through the night. Aaron however has another difficult night as a result of the terror that he experienced. He had fallen asleep in the light grey recliner next to Emilie on the couch. His nightmare was so violent that he almost tipped the chair over. His whole body was shaking and covered in sweat when he woke up. Aaron wrapped a blanket around himself and walked out into the cold Georgia night. He walks out onto the porch and sits down. Alexandria has the usual people out in the middle of the night. All six posts of the outer walls have their guards, armed with what seems like larger guns since the conflict with the saviors began. Aaron never knew what the names of the guns were, just if they shot and if they were big or little. Aaron notices the only other person that was out at the time was Father Gabriel, who he was pretty sure had been drinking some of Emilie's vodka because he wasn't walking too straight. Aaron jumps when he feels a hand on his shoulder. He turns around, and Emilie is behind him as well. "Hi Hunny. How do you feel?" He asks lightly.  
"Like shit, but I wanted to be close to you." Emilie sits down next to Aaron. She wraps her arms around his waist. He reciprocates by putting his arm around Emilie's shoulder and letting her put her head on his shoulder.  
"I'm glad you forgive me and that you're feeling better."  
"I didn't say that I forgive you. I just needed someone to cuddle and Spencer's house is too far away." Emilie tried to make Aaron jealous and it works.  
"I see how it is! You and I have one fight and now you go straight to the second prettiest guy in Alexandria."  
"Second? You think that you're first? Now that's a little egotistical." Emilie starts laughing. "I'm kiddddding! You're the only one that I enjoy to cuddle. Can we just sleep out here like we did when we first moved in together?" Emilie kisses him.  
"I think we should." Aaron pulls the blanket over him and Emilie. "I love you even when you're drunk and puking," Aaron pauses. "But next time you find a bottle alcohol, you better share.   
Although Aaron stayed up majority of the night, Emilie was fast asleep. Aaron was able to fall asleep for a few hours in the very early morning because he spent it next to Emilie. It may have only been a short amount of time, but it was his first nightmare-free sleep since the raid. Aaron wakes up first in the morning. He puts his hand through her hair and finds a slimy substance in her hair. "Ew," he says to himself. It was remnants of puke from last night. Emilie wakes up at the sound of Aaron's voice.  
"What did you say," she asks still half-asleep.  
"Go back to bed, you just had barf in your hair."  
Emilie's eyes shoot open. "I what?"  
"Don't worry about it. I got it out for you."  
"Why did I have barf in my hair?" Emilie seems genuinely confused.  
"You don't remember," Aaron asks.  
"NO! No I don't! I remember us having a fight then nothing after that. Aaron would you just tell me already?"   
"I don't know what happened while you were drinking, but Spencer brought you back, totally unconscious and passed out. Then you woke up and started swearing at him and then you barfed... A lot... Spencer said you hit him too."  
"Oh my God. Poor Spencer. I'm so embarrassed Aaron. I'll have to apologize to him when everybody's awake," Emilie nuzzles in closer to Aaron. "I'm so sorry we fought too babe. I don't ever want to get that mad at you, or that drunk, ever again."  
Aaron and Emilie spent sunrise on their front porch, snuggled together. It wasn't before long that everyone was milling around. Emilie told Aaron that she was going to go apologize to Spencer. She changed her clothes then headed out. Aaron told her that he was going to get things ready to teach her how to shoot. Emilie walked off to Spencer's house that used to be his mom Deanna's until she died. When she approached the house, she saw that Spencer was outside sitting on his front porch. "Come to yell at me some more, you belligerent drunk ass," Spencer yells at Emilie.  
"Spencer, listen. I'm actually here to apologize for being such an ass to you last night," Emilie said as she walked up the stairs. She sat down on the seat next to Spencer. "I really am sorry. Everything I did and said to you was so uncalled for."  
"Do you even remember what happened?" Spencer seems to be getting angrier.   
"I'm not sure I remember much of anything." Emilie shrugs her shoulders.  
"Let me tell you a secret Em. When you and Rick's group came into Alexandria, I thought that you were a pretty cool chick, and if Aaron didn't swoop you up as fast as he did, I may have totally tried to hit that myself. Last night the way you acted was just wrong and made me not want you anymore, at all. You know you kissed me right?"  
"I did not! You're kidding right?" Emilie is flabbergasted.  
"I'm not. You're a pretty good kisser. Aaron is a lucky guy."  
"I still don't think I kissed you. Why would I kiss you? I'm happy with Aaron."  
"Come here Emilie." Spencer gets up, grabs Emilie's face and kisses her. It's more of a forceful kiss than before. At first Emilie lets it happen, fully creating a french kiss reminiscent of the one from the day before. Then suddenly she pushes Spencer away. "Remember yet?"  
Emilie's cheeks are a bright shade of pink. "Oh god what did I do? I'm so sorry Spence."  
"You even asked me to fuck you," Spencer explains. "I didn't, but I'm not lying, part of me wanted to."  
"Please don't tell Aaron. I'm sorry for how I acted yesterday. I really am... I know you just wanted to help me, but I love Aaron. He's the man I'm going to marry, and I'd die if anything came between that."  
"I know. You're a pretty good kisser. If Aaron and you ever don't work out... I'm totally open for whatever," Spencer says to Emilie with a laugh. "I promise that I won't say anything to Aaron. I like you Em. I want to make sure that I keep you kinda liking me."  
"Thank you Spencer. I'm really sorry I was so mean to you. My group gives you such a bad rap here."  
"It's okay. You were drunk. Now I'd be a little worried if you said all this when you were sober," he says. "Can I at least have a hug?" Emilie puts her arms out and Spencer hugs her tightly.


	6. Just Us. It's all we need.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a longer chapter. It has some intense scenes with Aaron and Emilie not for good girl's and boy's eyes. But it's a fun chapter that continues to build in intensity as we get towards the season finale.

When Emilie gets back to the house, Aaron has set out a few different targets and has two pistols on the porch ledge waiting. She walks up to Aaron, wraps her arms around him, and kisses him on the lips.  
"What was that for," he asks.  
"Because I love you," Emilie says.  
"I love you too but you have some pretty rank barf breath still."  
"Come on! I brushed my teeth! Oh my God, I give up today."  
"How was your conversation with Spencer? Didn't hit him again, did you?" Aaron grabs the two guns and hands one to Emilie.  
Emilie tried to force back the flush that is raising in her cheeks. "It was fine. Spencer was very forgiving thank goodness. I feel like such a total jerk for what I did to him and how I acted. He was genuinely trying to be nice and help me out, and I picked on him and was just so mean.  
"Yeah. I like that you have him here when I'm on runs. At least it's someone to keep you company." He gives Emilie one of the guns. "Ready to shoot Annie Oakley? You see those targets? See that board over there?" He points to a wooden plank. "Let's start with that. Now grasp the gun like you would think you should." Emilie points the gun at the board. Aaron wraps his arms around her and puts his hands over hers.  
"Ooo I like this." Emilie giggles and wiggles her hips back into Aaron playfully. "Now what?"  
"Now you release the safety and squeeze the trigger." Aaron guides Emilie through the shot. The gun fires and the bullet smashes deep into the wood. Aaron laughs happily. "That was awesome right? What a rush!"  
"I can't believe I finally shot a gun accurately!" Emilie exclaims full of excitement. "Can I do it again? On my own?"  
"Go for it."  
Aaron and Emilie were careful to not use too much ammunition. Emilie quickly gets the hang of shooting, so they decide to pack it in after about an hour of shooting and flirting and kissing playfully. As they were walking in, they saw Glenn Michonne, Darryl, and Rosita looking like they were ready to go off on a run. Aaron wanted to go see them off. Emilie laughed at Aaron's incessant bromance with Darryl. "Hey guys. Headed out for supplies?" Aaron asks, although he already knew.  
"Yeah man," Darryl says. "Do you guys need anything while we're out? Maybe a fancy white dress Em?"  
Emilie laughs. "Pushing us to get married Mr. Dixon?"  
"I'm just sayin' man. Y'all have been engage for what? A month now?" He chews on a toothpick. "You got yourself a good girl here Aaron. I'd be making that official before some young bad boy comes in and swoops her up under your nose."  
"We'll see. Maybe we might have a surprise when you get back from your run." Aaron smiles at Darryl. "Be careful out there though guys. Especially after what went down in the compound. You can never be too careful when there's a group of psycho killers out there mad at us."  
"Thanks mom," Darryl laughs. "Beers at least when I get back man? I got a stash."  
"That sounds awesome," Aaron replies.  
"Safe travels guys." Emilie hugs her friend Rosita. Aaron and Emilie let them go. They head back into their house. When they walk in, Emilie falls dramatically into the couch. "Learning to shoot was fun. It's kind of sexy to be honest. Such power between my hands, then that pull of the trigger... Mmm..." Aaron sits down next to her, and Emilie playfully puts her feet on his lap.  
"Oh you liked that did you? Well it was pretty sexy seeing you do it." Aaron leans over and crawls across Emilie's lap, which causes her to emit a high-pitched, extremely girl giggle. "Oh no no no no. Now that you're this awesome sharpshooter, you can't be giggling like that," he says and she giggles even harder.  
"You're making me laugh! I can't stop!" Emilie breathes in. "You smell good." She starts to kiss his neck.  
"Ooo I might have to let myself get all sweaty again if it does this to you," Aaron says.  
"Let's get you out of that shirt." Emilie begins to unbutton Aaron's plaid button down, but cannot stop laughing uncontrollably.  
"Aren't you just full f the laughs today," Aaron says. "Let's get this a little more comfortable." He stands up and scoops Emilie up into his arms. "Time to get you out of those clothes and in bed. You must be so exhausted." Emilie laughs hysterically. "I really don't know what is so funny." Aaron begins to walk upstairs to his and Emilie's bedroom. When he gets to the doorway, Aaron chuckles. "Hey look. It's like practice for our wedding night. At least I didn't drop you." He steps over the "threshold".  
"You are such a big dork."  
Aaron puts Emilie down on the bed. "But I'm the dork that you love, and I'm the dork that never fails to make you laugh." He proceeds to do the worst impression of a male stripper. "I used to call that move my 'panty dropper'."  
"You're kidding right?" She laughs at him.  
Aaron crawls on top of Emilie and begins to kiss her. Her lips are soft and wet, and he gently nibbles on her bottom lip. Aaron pulls Emilie's sweater over her head revealing a lace bralette. "Ooh I like that."  
"Is that one of the guns in your pocket or are you excited to see me?" Emilie points out the obvious. She watches Aaron take off his khakis and boxers to reveal an erection. She quickly wiggles out of her jeans. Aaron's hands are all over Emilie. His fingers enter Emilie, his thumb stroking her swollen clit. Emilie's hips rock back and forth against Aaron's fingers. Both of their breathing becomes quick and shallow. "That feels so good," Emilie gasps through her words and throws her head back. "Don't stop. Aaron pulls off Emilie's underwear. He quickly guides his shaft into Emilie and feels her body shudder under him. He moves slowly in and out.  
"You feel fantastic."  
"You can go a little faster," Emilie coaxes him. She grinds her hips in unison with him him. Aaron starts pumping faster and harder. "Yes! Harder! Oh god harder!" Emilie and Aaron's bodies crash together faster and faster, sweat glistening over their faces. "You feel amazing! Oh my god!"  
Aaron clutches Emilie's body as he cums inside her. Emilie finishes moments later digging her nails into Aaron's skin. "I don't ever want to lose you." Aaron kisses Emilie's forehead, and she wraps her arms around him. He feels Emilie nestle in as close as possible in a blissful snuggle.  
"I don't know what I'd do without you either honestly," Emilie says. She pulls the sheet over herself and shivers. "Please don't go out on any more Savior hunting missions. I just need you to stay safe. Let Rick, Darryl, Michonne, any of the others do it, this whole killing thing. They're way more suited for it than us. Sure I can shoot now, and you're pretty good at it too, but killing is something that they're way more accustomed to than us.  
"They might need us though Em. Rick asked me personally to join them on the last mission," Aaron explained to Emilie's chagrin. "It's like he's used to me being there now."  
"Well he's going to need to get un-used to including you. I'm serious Aaron. I want to make a life with you, and if it means we stay here, no more killing missions. If we have to, you and I can head out on our own. If it means that we're happy, I don't care where we end up."  
"I promise you that we will do what we can to stay safe here. If it means we head out on our own, then so be it. You're the most important thing in my life right now." He pauses. "We should have our wedding soon. Maybe when they come back from the run? I'm sure Father Gabriel would officiate and Darryl could be my best man. And Rosita or Carol could be your maid of honor."  
"I don't need a big ceremony. I could marry you in front of Darryl and Rosita, and have Carol officiate and that would be perfect in my opinion."  
"Are you sure? You wouldn't want us to find a white dress for you to wear? I want to make sure that this whole thing would be perfect for you and that it would be exactly how you always wanted it to be."  
To be honest, I've never really thought about it. I feel like I've been in survival mode for what seems like so long now."  
"I know. Sometimes I feel the same exact way. It's like this is all we've ever known. i'm glad I met you Em. I don't know where I'd be now if I didn't," Aaron reveals and kisses Emilie.  
The next morning Aaron and Emilie wake up to the sounds of a loud discussion outside their window. It quickly escalates into a fight. Emilie sits up holding the covers over her chest. She jostles Aaron awake. "Babe. Babe, wake up." Aaron jumps awake.  
"What? What," Aaron is startled. He pauses and hears the argument. "It sounds like Maggie. I hope everything is okay. We should probably check." He gets out of bed and puts on his underwear and sweatpants. Emilie gets out of bed and puts underwear and one of Aaron's t-shirts on. They walk outside to see Maggie arguing with Rick, and Carl watching on as they do it.  
"Is everything okay," Emilie asks them.  
"Rick doesn't listen! His damn stubborn ass thinks I'm not going to be concerned that Glenn hasn't come home yet."  
"They haven't come back from the supply run yet?"  
"No," Rick says assertively. "And Maggie thinks I'm going to let her go off on her own, pregnant with psycho killers running around.  
"M-maybe they just ran into bad weather or something other than the Saviors is the reason that our four people aren't back yet," Aaron stutters trying to sound confident. "Rosita and Darryl aren't going to allow anything to happen."  
"Aaron's right Maggie," Emilie begins. "Plus you're pregnant. You need to stay calm to protect the baby. Glenn would freak out if he knew that you were getting all worked up like you are."  
"How 'bout you listen to thee two and go back in your house now Mags?" Rick gives Maggie a very fatherly look.  
"But," Maggie starts.  
"No Maggie. Get your ass in the house, and I'll be sending Sasha in to make sure you stay put," Rick orders. Maggie stomps off in a huff. Rick turns to Aaron and Emilie. "Thank you."  
"Rick, should we be concerned?" Aaron asks. "They've been gone a full 24 hours."  
"We may have to send a larger group out later today if they don't come back. Are you game to head out with us, if need be Aaron?"  
Emilie immediately starts to shake her head "no". "Rick, I'd prefer you take Abraham or any of the others and not include us. Aaron and I are trying to plan our wedding." Rick looks at Aaron and mouths, "Really brother?"  
"Yeah. I'm still having nightmares from the compound. And someone's kind of stolen my heart and given me an excuse to not put myself in a situation where I have a chance that I might actually be killed."  
Rick seems angry at Aaron's comments. "Well come get me when you get your balls back son." He stomps away. Emilie looks even angrier than Rick.  
"What a douche comment! You should have stuck up for yourself Aaron." Emilie notices Aaron's half-hearted expression. She immediately knows that something is bothering him too. "You didn't want to honestly go out on another mission did you?" Aaron doesn't respond right away. "Seriously Aaron?"  
"Well no. The compound experience I went through is something I don't ever want to go through again. I would've died if I could no longer be able to see you again. The Saviors are scary people Em."  
"Then what's the problem," Emilie asks him.  
"I just don't want your team and Rick to think I'm basically abandoning them at their time of need," Aaron pauses. "But you're the most important think my life and I'm not going to jeopardize what we have."  
"I don't think telling Rick is abandoning my friends. i think they know how close we are and would appreciate how much you and I depend on each other." Emilie puts her arm around Aaron's waist, and he leans into her dependently. "Can we just not leave our house today and pretend that none of this is actually even happening? Like it's just the two of us alone in this crazy world?"  
"I think that's a good idea Em."


	7. Happy Wedding Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Ross and Emilie's wedding day. A happy day. But will the happiness last??? I like this chapter because you see different sides of characters that I didn't reveal much of in previous chapters.--- Getting closer and closer to the season finale episode.

Later that day, Aaron and Emilie had a visitor in Carol. Carol had heard through the rumor mill that Emilie and Aaron were looking to get married soon. Carol in turn brought a gift for Emilie. When Emilie opened it, she burst into sobs and tears. She had brought Emilie a present of a vintage tea-length, white gown that looked like it had to have been from either the 50s or 60s and may have been someone's prom dress.  
"Oh stop with the tears," Carol yells at Emilie. "You're going to make me cry and I don't even cry!"  
"Carol, where did you get this? It's so beautiful."  
"It's been in my house since we came to Alexandria. I couldn't find anyone more perfect or deserving of wearing something so beautiful." Carol sees Emilie start to cry even harder. "Oh come on with that shit Emilie." She swipes at her own eyes.  
Emilie jumps up and hugs Carol tightly. "You're going to be my maid of honor Carol. You have no choice. You're one of my best friends and I love you. Crap. I feel like I'm ready to get married like soon now. Can we get something ready for tomorrow? Because that would be amazing."  
Aaron smiles brightly at Emilie's suggestion. "I think we should Babe. you know I'm ready and as long as you are, I think we could totally do it."  
"Well if you're going to be married tomorrow, then you two can't see each other until your wedding," Carol said full of delight. "Come along Red! Let's go get you wedding ready." After they got back to Carol's house, Carol got together a list of things that they needed for tomorrow. It wasn't much, but it was going to be a perfect westing and break from the hell that they were living in. Enid would do Emilie's make-up; Maggie would do her hair. Carol told Emilie that she would not wear a dress but make sure that she was an acceptable maid of honor. Since Darryl was not back, Aaron had actually asked Eugene to be his best man. Eugene was honored to take on the role.  
Eugene and Abraham decided to do what they could to give Aaron the best bachelor party send off that they could. They gathered up two cases of beer that was easily polished off and some cigars. Aaron enjoyed having time to bond with them and forget about the stress of zombie apocalypse life.  
The next morning Emilie woke up to loud knocks on Carol's house door. It was Maggie and she was ready to do Emilie's hair, and not so soon after Enid was there to do her makeup. Maggie did not have much to use in the line of hair supplies so she tied up Emilie's hair in rag curls which she knew how to do from when she was in pageants as a kid. "You're gonna look so beautiful Em," Maggie says as she finishes curling up Emilie's hair.  
"I could marry Aaron in sweatpants and a t-shirt, and I would be happy that I was marrying him. That's all that matters."  
"Word is some of the guys are putting up decorations at the church," Enid blurts out.  
"Enid! You were supposed to keep that a secret!" Maggie gets mad.  
"I'm... I'm sorry." Enid lines Emilie's eyes with the eye liner.  
"You guys really didn't have to make a big deal about this, seriously. I told you... All I care about is that I'm marrying Aaron who I love more than anything." Emilie's looks at the dress that Carol has laid out on the bed for her. "I can't believe that I'm actually getting married."  
"Well let's finish your hair before we put on the dress," Maggie says. Maggie begins to unroll Emilie's curls. They fall into tight curls on her shoulders. Maggie pins up half and leaves the rest loose. "You look stunning Em. Let's finish it up and put on your dress." Emilie puts on her wedding dress. Maggie zips it up, ties the bow and gasps.  
Carol walks in right as she turns around. "Shit. Now I'm officially going to cry. This is exactly how I thought I'd feel with my Sophia." She walks up and hugs Emilie tightly.  
"Carol! Stop! I'm going to cry!" Emilie fans at her eyes.  
Enid walks in with two bouquets of wild flowers. "Everyone is ready at the church, so we could probably start walking. Carl told me that Eugene and Aaron have gone inside, s they definitely won't see you."  
"I just need to add my own personal touch to this." Emilie walks over to the couch and sits down. She pulls on her dusty red Converse high tops. "There. Now I feel like me."  
"It's perfect," Enid says. She hands her the flowers and the four girls walk off to the church.  
When they get to the church, Maggie and Enid go in ahead to tell everyone that they were ready. The doors in the back open up. Aaron and Eugene are at the front of the aisle near Father Gabriel. Aaron has on a blue button down shirt and a dark blue tie. He nudges Eugene as one of the Alexandrian's, Joan, plays the wedding march on the piano. "She's beautiful man." With that, the ceremony begins. There are funny, heartwarming moments and serious moments. Eugene gets so nervous when he has to give Aaron Emilie's run that he fumbles it and almost drops it. Everyone was when Emilie tears up through her vows and Aaron wipes away at her tears. The ceremony ends with a loving is between Aaron and Emilie. Carol announces that a small feast will be held at her house, and that everyone is invited. Aaron holds on tightly to Emilie as people file out of the church ahead of them.  
"So that couldn't have been more perfect," Aaron says.  
"I told you that. We could have been married in front of our maid of honor and best man in jeans and t-shirts and I would have been just as happy."  
"Oh come on Em! Admit you had the best wedding in the apocalypse a girl could ask for. I know I did," Aaron says with a laugh.  
The party began quickly at Carol's house. She didn't have a normal wedding style dinner but had made a few dishes of fresh pasta and a small wedding cake that was just enough to celebrate with. In addition to serving food, Carol had collected anything musical, ranging from CDs to cassettes to records from just about every house in Alexandria and the music began once the food was served.  
Aaron and Emilie were sitting off to the side of where everyone was dancing. She sat on Aaron't lap, and he had his arms around Emilie's waist. "This is the happiest day of my life," Aaron reveals.  
"Mine too," Emilie says and kisses Aaron's lips softly. "Do I get to see the 'moneymaker' on the dance floor? I think that you totally should break it out."  
"I don't know if the world is ready for the extreme sexiness that is the "moneymaker'."  
Emilie notices Spencer walk into the room that everyone is dancing in. He casually walks over to where Emilie and Aaron are sitting. She gulps at the awkwardness.  
"Hey so I wanted to make sure I came and said congratulations to you guys. I'm sorry I didn't make it to the ceremony. I had watch. You look so beautiful Em," Spencer says and Emilie's face flushes.  
"Thank you Spencer. That's very sweet of you," Emilie says. "You are welcome to enjoy whatever food is left. The cake was actually pretty incredible too. I don't know how Carol did it to be honest with you."  
Spencer grimaces through a smile. "I was actually hoping I might steal you away for a dance. That is, it it's okay with your hub." Aaron backs away from holding on to Emilie. A slow song comes on the CD.  
"By all means. As long as she promises to not punch you again."  
"I promise I won't." Emilie starts laughing hysterically. She takes Spencer's hand and walks on to the makeshift dance floor.  
"So are you happy," Spencer doesn't waste any time asking.  
"I am very happy actually. Thank you."  
"You really look beautiful. Aaron is such a lucky guy to have you. I'm glad I was able to get off of watch in time to come and congratulate you." Spencer's hands shake slightly on Emilie's waist.  
"This was all just totally too much honestly. Carol and our friends did such a fantastic job putting this together." Emilie feels Spencer's hands shaking. "Spence. What's wrong?" He tries to avoid her question. "Spencer Monroe, do not ignore me. Come on now."  
"Just... just know that I care about you a lot. With everything that's happening, I would do whatever I possibly can to protect you and keep you safe. And I will do the same for Aaron too, because I know what he means to you. I lost my entire family to this madness outside of our walls, and I am not about to lose you too." The song stops leaving a somewhat awkward situation for Emilie and Spencer. Emilie quickly grabs Spencer and hugs him tightly.  
"Thank you Spencer. Stay. Stay and have fun with us."  
"I guess that I can stay for a little..." Spencer reluctantly agrees.  
"Perfect because when I shake my booty, I embarrass my husband, so I need a spazzy dance partner."  
Aaron walks up next to them. "Did I just hear that she's recruiting you to dance with?" The music blares and they join in with the group of dancers. It seems as though this is exactly what the Alexandrian survivors needed. The celebration goes into the early hours of the morning. Around 2 a.m. Aaron and Emilie decide to head back to their house. They leave the party to loud cheers from all of their guests. Emilie grabs on to Aaron's arm as they walk back to their house and holds it tightly.  
"Soo," she says nervously.  
"So," Aaron mimics her.  
"We're married," Emilie blurts out.  
Aaron spins Emilie around so that she's facing him. He dips her and kisses her passionately. "I love you."  
"I know," she kisses him.  
"Time for the honeymoon huh?" Aaron raises his eyebrows. "Right my wife?"  
"That sounds splendid my husband."  
When they reach the doorway, Aaron tells Emilie it's time to pick her up and carry her over the threshold. he scoops her up, and Emilie's ballgown skirt poofs up massively. It makes them laugh. Aaron playfully throws Emilie on the couch. "We're getting creative tonight." He raises his eyebrows again. They begin kissing and it gets hot and heavy pretty fast. Suddenly someone is heard screaming outside for help. Emilie rolls her eyes.  
"You're kidding right?! We can't have one night without crap happening?! Just keep kissing me. Maybe it will go away." She pulls Aaron in for more kissing. The shouting gets louder and more voices join in.  
"Emilie, it sounds like something important. We should probably check." Aaron loosens his tie. "What if someone is in trouble?"  
"This is bullshit!" Emilie gets up and blows a curl that has fallen in her eyes out of the way. "All I ask for is one night of nothing happening so that I can enjoy my husband and make love to him all night and of course something happens to fuck it up! Let's go!" She gets up reluctantly. When they walk outside, they find Rick and Sasha talking to Enid. They walk up to them as Enid is explaining that something has happened to Maggie.  
"Maggie's having problems with the baby! I don't know what to do! Someone has gotta help her or she and the baby are going to die," Enid reveals frantically.  
"Em, can you help us?" Sasha asks. "Should probably change though.  
"I don't know anything medical! What am I going to do?" Emilie looks somewhat angry at having to help. Aaron looks at her with urgent eyes. "Fuck," she mutters under her breath.  
"Emilie and I will run back, change, and meet you at Maggie and Glenn's house," Aaron says and Emilie gives him a dirty look. "Come on Em. Let's just go." Aaron grabs Emilie's arm, and they head back to the house. Emilie stomps angrily through the front door. "I'm sorry Em. I know you told me no more involvement in this crazy crap, but Mags is pregnant. All I could think of is if you were the one that was pregnant with complications, I'd want people like us to be willing to help you too."  
"I just wanted one drama-free night" Emilie says as they walk into their bedroom. "Unzip me." Aaron unzips Emilie's wedding dress, and she lets it fall to the ground. "It's my wedding night. I should not be putting clothes back on."  
I'm sorry Emilie. I will make up for this." He wraps his arms around her tightly and kisses her cheek. "I love you dear wife."  
"Don't," she shakes off his grasp.


	8. Suicide missions are awesome right?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We have officially hit the season finale. I'm not going to lie to you. I took pieces of Negan's final speech and I credit the walking dead writers and Robert Kirkman for awesome dialogue there. It's obviously different because my characters are different. This chapter broke my heart. It was gut-wrenching and I would love to know what you think.

When Aaron and Emilie get to the infirmary, Sasha, Tara, and Enid are trying to help Maggie who is looking worse for the wear. Maggie grimaces. "Congratulations you two. You shouldn't be here. You should be home having a wedding night."  
"We came to help take care of you Mags," Aaron tells her. "You and the baby."  
Tara pulls Emilie and Aaron off to the side. "We don't have the medicine or the knowledge here to save her of the baby. We need to get her to the Hilltop. They have a doctor. The doctor could totally handle this better than here. I've spoken to Rick. It's a long drive through some dangerous territory."  
"That's a suicide mission. The area outside these walls is crawling with Saviors, and last I checked we pissed them off," Emilie yells at them.  
"Rick said that we can get a group in the RV and head out. We need you and Aaron, Em." Tara tries to convince her. "There'll be a big group of us. It'll be safer that way."  
"Every time that I think we're finally going to be okay and happy, something like this happens and my life goes back to hell!"  
"Emilie, you and I both know that losing Beth and Tyreese were hard," Sasha begins. "Probably harder that you and I ever wanted... But we need your help."  
"You know what Sasha, bringing them up right now to make me feel guilty is bullshit! This is the last mission that Aaron and I will be on... At least together because if you go on another one Aaron, I will divorce you and you will be alone. Do not even try to involve us in this mess ever again," Emilie says angrily. She turns to Aaron who shrugs his shoulders sadly.  
Rick is successful in gathering a large group to help take Maggie to the Hilltop. The group included Sasha, Abraham, Eugene, Carl, Rick, Aaron, Emilie, and Maggie. As they were getting into the RV, Spencer came running up to them with a rifle. Immediately Emilie becomes defensive. "What do you think you're doing Spencer?"  
"Coming with you," Spencer tries to walk around Emilie and she stops him.  
"No. No you're not. You need to stay here."  
"Why? You said it yourself that no one here likes me so why would I bother staying here," he asks, again trying to push past Emilie.  
"You hold stay because I don't want anything to happen to you. I already have no choice with Aaron, and I can't bear to have anything happen to you too." She looks longingly trying to plead with him to stay out of this mission.  
"Well I want to protect you and to protect Aaron so you really have no choice in the matter."  
Emilie groans. "Just don't do anything stupid Spencer. I want you and Aaron to stay alive. And what you said isn't true you know. I like you." She allows Spencer to walk on to the RV ahead of her. Emilie walks on and sits next to Aaron.  
"Everything ok," he asks her.  
"No. Not really."  
"I know you don't think so right now, but you did the right thing. They need our help." Aaron tries his best to reason with Emilie.  
"I'll believe that when we make it home from the Hilltop, and everyone is still alive." Emilie looks directly at Spencer, and he tries to look away. Aaron puts his arm around Emilie and she puts her head on his shoulder. "I hope we get through this Aaron."  
"We will. I promise.  
Not too far into the drive about 10 miles in, the RV comes to an abrupt stop. Eugene, who is driving, is heard seconds later. "Rick... uh, Rick.... We have a problem." Rick and Abraham flag everyone to stay back and they run to the front with Eugene. They come back and Rick has a very nervous expression on his face.  
"Spencer, Emilie, Carl," Rick begins. "You stay here with Maggie. Eugene stay up front. The rest of you come outside with me." Rick grabs his rifle. Aaron immediately gets up, kisses Emilie, and starts walking forward. "I'll be right back."  
"Aaron, NO!" Emilie tries to stop him, but he is already out the door. She tries to run out, but Spencer grabs her arm. "Let me go Spencer!"  
"No Emilie. Stay here! We need to protect Maggie. Aaron will be fine!" Spencer tries to reason with her.  
"This is bullshit!! I should be home in bed with Aaron, but instead mine and my husband's lives are on the line. Suddenly a thunderous roar of bullets is shot off and Emilie screams. The group that was outside comes running back on to the RV screaming to retreat and to back up. Aaron falls on to the seat next to Emilie. "You're cut Aaron. I told you this was a bad idea." She touches the small cut on Aaron's forehead and he winces.  
"I'll be fine. A stone flew up when the shooting started." Aaron wipes at the blood trickling down his face from the cut. He holds Emilie's hand, and his hand is shaking from being shot at.  
"I just want to go home Aaron. I don't want to do this anymore." Emilie watches as Aaron kisses her hand. "I'm scared. I just want to leave all of this."  
"I'm scared too Em. I'm scared too," Aaron says as Rick walks back to the area where mostly everyone is sitting. He explains what happens and Emilie gets frustrated.  
"You don't think we already knew what happened?! The Saviors are out to get us because you thought that it was necessary to go kill all their people," Emilie says full of snark and disdain. Rick ignores her however.  
"We've looked at the maps and there are a couple other possible routes for us to get to the Hilltop. I doubt the Saviors will have all of them blocked. And then we will get you to help Mags." He touches her forehead and she cringes through a smile.  
"You all just need to be careful." Maggie winces through her words.  
"We will. I promise." Rick says to her which causes Emilie to roll her eyes and Spencer to snicker. Rick heads back to the front of the RV. Emilie just shakes her head as she watches.  
"You really are a total badass bitch," Spencer says causing Emilie to laugh.  
"I'm just tired of people. I love being thrown into stupid situations like this. And most of the time, it is Rick's decision that puts me there. I'm just sick and tired of blindly following jackasses that want to pick fights with everyone." Emilie's eyes bulge out. "Jesus. I don't know where that came from. I just really need a break from all this madness."  
"Or more vodka," Spencer blurts out, and it cracks Emilie up.  
"Why did we have to finish that damn it all?" Aaron shoots them both a disapproving look as Spencer and Emilie bond. He protectively puts his arm around Emilie as to say "she's mine, back off". Spencer takes the hint immediately and backs off his bonding with her. There is a long stretch of driving where no one says much of anything. Emilie catches Spencer smiling in her direction, which she reciprocates, and each time Aaron's grip on her shoulder tightens. It becomes a game with the two men. Suddenly the RV comes to a screeching halt.  
"Jeeeeeeeeesus!" Emilie yells.  
Everyone that is up front comes running back to the door. Someone yells to grab a gun. Emilie follows everyone out there this time. There is a large group of Saviors in front of a large obstruction of wood and debris.  
"Do you really think we're ever going to leave you alone shitheads," a Savior yells at them. "Drop him!" A man with a red "x" spray-painted across his body is dropped from the bridge with a noose around his neck. He twitches for a moment then goes limp. Sasha screams to help him.  
Aaron runs up behind Rick. "I could shoot him down." He attempts to help.  
"He's dead dumb shit." Abraham becomes harsh. The Saviors set an intense blaze which ignites immediately in front of them. Emilie however comes to Aaron's defense.  
"Seriously Abe. He's just trying to help!"  
"Well he's gonna get us killed if we stay out here any longer! Maybe he should smarten up if he's gonna run with us on missions like this!"  
"You douche bag ginger piece of sh!"  
"Emilie! Let's go," Rick yells at her to get back on the R.V.  
Emilie turns to Abraham, gives him the middle finger, and scowls.  
In a flurry, the group hurries back on to the R.V. It is a frantic cluster. Emilie and Abraham are still fighting. Spencer, Carl, and Sasha are trying to take care of Maggie, who is progressively getting worse and worse. Rick is up front with Eugene plotting a new plan. Emilie seems to be not planning on ever stopping fighting with Abraham. He successfully enrages Emilie with one arrogant comment. "Hey Aaron! Why don't you ask you feminazi wife to give you your nuts back pussy?"  
Emilie doesn't say anything, but she screams and dives toward Abraham with her fist balled up. She connects with a sharp punch to Abraham's nose, and he stumbles backwards.  
"BITCH!" Abraham mutters under his breath.  
Aaron's head snaps in Abraham's direction. "What did you just call my wife asshole?!"  
"I just called her exactly what she's being... A big... Ole'... Thunderbitch. She's rude. She's selfish... She's reckless and arrogant... And she damn near broke my nose!"  
"Here let me break it for you!" Aaron attempts to lunge forward but is stopped by Rick who separates the argument.  
"Enough!" He yells. "We're forgetting who the true enemy is here! We want to get Maggie to the doctors and survive the trip there. The Saviors are cutting off all of the main routes to the Hilltop. They're ahead of every step we make. I've been talking to Eugene and we've come up with a plan. We will take Maggie by foot to Hilltop, everyone...But Eugene will stay in the RV, drive it back...Make them think that we're retreating."  
"Another suicide mission," Emilie grumbles. "Great. I'm in." The others immediately echo her acceptance.  
Sasha, Carl, Spencer, and Emilie are put in charge of carrying Maggie on the makeshift stretcher that they have created. The rest of the team was put on gunner duty on either side. Aaron took a position close to Emilie on the left side of Maggie. The group does their best to run along the woods towards the Hilltop. Suddenly as they are running, Rick who was in the lead, freezes and everyone stops. "I heard something."  
"Are you sure? We aren't exactly leaving nature untouched," Sasha asks. Suddenly a person whistling is heard off in the distance.  
"What the fuck," Emilie mutters under her breath, and Aaron steps in front of her protectively. The whistling gets louder and louder and circles the group intensely. All of the group draws their guns and rifles.  
"We don't want any trouble here! We only need to get our friend some medical help," Rick pleads knowing full well that it might not end as he hopes. "Surely you can understand that we want no harm."  
"Do you think we give a shit?! Drop your weapons dickheads," the voice yelled at them. Everyone looks to each other wondering what to do for the next step. They are clearly outnumbered by a large amount. bright car lights suddenly illuminate the area to reveal the RV that Eugene was driving and close to 30 Saviors.  
"I believe we're going to need your weapons now and all of you on your knees." One by one members of the group are shoved down and de-armed. The lead Savior gets to Emilie and smiles a disturbing toothy smile. "Mmmm... Aren't you a sweet pretty thing with your fancy hair and makeup. Like a sweet ripe peach and mm... I do love peaches," the Savior says and Emilie continues to hold her stiff upper lip. "You have amazing tits." He drags his finger down Emilie's chest, deliberately pulling it down to see her bra. She begins to shake. "Ooo. Nice and firm." He squeeze one so tightly. Emilie winces in pain.  
"Stop this! Please!" Emilie screams as the Savior begins to lift her shirt up almost to her shoulders.  
"ENOUGH!" Aaron yells and he charges the savior fondling Emilie. Immediately he is attacked by Saviors, who punch and kick him relentless. He is left with a bloodied, almost swollen shut eye and mouth, slumped over in a heap.  
"Enough of this shit," says the Savior. "Dwight bring out the rest of them.  
Rick, Abraham, Carl, Sasha, Maggie, Spencer, Emilie, and Aaron watch as Eugene is brought from one side and Michonne, Darryl, Glenn, and Rosita are all but tossed out of a van. Glenn cries out for Maggie. "Enough of this crap!" Dwight says. He walks over to the RV and knocks on the door. The door opens and a large, imposing man with a leather jacket, jeans, motorcycle boots and gloves on, with slicked-back black hair and carrying a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire steps out.  
"Hi," the man says. "I'm Negan." He struts over to Rick. "So you're the leader of this group? I do not appreciate you killing my men. Also when I sent my people to kill your people, you killed more of my people. Not cool! Not cool at all man!" He begins pacing in front of everyone. "You see Rick, whatever you do, no matter what, you don't mess with the new world order, and the new world order is this... Give me your shit, or I will kill you. I know that is a mighty big, nasty pill to swallow, but swallow it you most certainly will. What I want is half your shit, and if that is too much, you can beg, make, fight, or steal more, and it will even out sooner or later. This is your way of life now, the more you fight back, the harder it will be. I don't want to kill you people...I want to make that clear from the get go. I want you to work for me. You can't do that if you're dead now, can you? BUT you killed my people, a whole damn lot of them, more than I am comfortable with and for that you have got to pay. So now I am going to be a the holy hell out of one of you. This is Lucille...She. Is. Awesome. All this, all this is just so we can pick out which one of you gets the honor. So who'll it be? Who will it be?" began stops in front of Aaron, whose bloodied eye is almost swollen shut from the beating that he took. "You look like shit. And I don't particularly like the way your good eye is looking at me." Aaron tries to hold his own as Negan swings Lucille threateningly in front of him.  
Emilie screams. "Noooo! Leave him alone!" She tries to run to stop Negan, but two Saviors pull her back by her hair and punch her multiple times in the stomach. She doubles over in pain and Aaron tries to control the feat in his expression to protect Emilie further.  
"You, Bitch... Are lucky that I don't normally kill women, because I would have beaten the holy hell out of you for that. But I get that. It's an emotional moment. Most of you women are like that," Negan says and Emilie scowls at him. "You've got yourself a feisty one here one eye." He pauses and turns to Carl. "I'm so sorry junior serial killer. That was insensitive of me. Romeo and Juliet here are startin' to piss me off, and I don't particularly like fearless, upstart, free thinkers... So it's either one eye or his pretty little girlfriend. Personally I could get good use out of you. So that leaves you One Eye."  
Suddenly Spencer clears his throat. "No! If you take anyone, take me! Their people were just trying to protect themselves. They're all strong and will provide for you and your people. I'm 30 and have spent my entire life letting my mother do everything for me. Now that she's gone sir, I have no idea how to even provide for myself, let alone your people. Every time I try to do something, I fuck it up."  
"Spencer," Emilie says with tears streaming down her face. "Don't do this! You don't have to do this for me!"  
"Shut up Em. I'm a piece of shit that everyone knows is useless. Even you said it yourself, no one likes me here. The rest of these people Mr. Negan... They can provide for you. I would just fuck everything up."  
"Don't do this Spencer. You deserve to live through this," Emilie panics as she cries. She is held back by the Savior men.  
"Emilie," Spencer's eyes begin to well up with tears. He looks her directly in the eyes. "I know you're married to Emilie now, and I'm happy for you, but I love you. I always have loved you, and I always will love you. Both times that we kissed were times that I finally felt like I was happy. I told you that I would do anything to protect your happiness and I know that's with Aaron. I love you so much though." Spencer sees Aaron's unswollen eye bulge out.  
"Oh shit," Negan exclaims. "We've got ourselves a full on soap opera here. I've had it with this bullshit. You've made my decision for me. You can cry. You can scream... Hell you'll probably be doing a lot of both. And if that leader or Romeo and Juliet try anything, scoop this piece of shit's brain off the ground and feed it to them with a spoon." Negan turns to Spencer, who is shaking uncontrollably and crying. "Hold still." Negan raises Lucille over his head, and it crashes down into Spencer's head. Surprisingly he is still standing. There is a flurry of screams. Spencer is delirious and tells Emilie one more time before Negan hits him again and again, leaving barely anything left of Spencer. Everyone is screaming uncontrollably. When there is nothing left to crush, Negan backs away. "Men, let's move out. We come to your community in one week, and if you don't have stuff for us, I will introduce someone else to Lucille." He walks into the RV and with that the Saviors are gone.


	9. Picking up the pieces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Spencer gone, the gang is left to pick up the pieces

Emilie gets up and runs to Spencer's mangled, lifeless body. She's sobbing as she cradles him in her arms. It's becoming painful breathy cries. Glenn is trying to take care of Maggie to one side of the group. Rick is with Carl and Michonne. Aaron is frozen and unmoved. Darryl walks over to him and says something. Rosita comes to Emilie who has not let of of Spencer's body. "Em, he's gone," Rosita tries to talk to her. She puts her hand on Emilie's shoulder and she jumps. "Em, he's gone. We need to go back to Alexandria."  
Emilie's grip on Spencer's body tightens. "This is my fault. He did this to protect me. He did this to save me. He did this to save Aaron. Spencer is is dead and it's all my fault. He said he loved me. He loved me so much that he gave his life to save me."  
Darryl is taking care of Aaron as Rosita takes care of Emilie. Aaron is pretty injured both mentally and physically, and he is in extreme pain. "Come on man. I'll help you up. It's times to go back home now."  
"I don't know if I can go back there," Aaron winces in pain as he speaks.  
"Em will need you though. We've all just been through hell on earth."  
"She doesn't need me. She's fine right where she is with who she's with. You missed it," Aaron says with a sad smile. "We got married yesterday. You should have been there. It was the happiest moment of my life...And now this has ruined it all. I thought that I was the only guy that she actually loved."  
"You are man. Spencer said he loved her, but she didn't say it back." Darryl tries to help his friend. "I've known Emilie for a very long time. You yourself know that we even hooked up when we were drunk. You are the first guy I have ever seen her LOVE. That girl is just torn up right now. I know a little bit about what it' slide to blame yourself for someone's death and not saving them. Her best friend Beth... I blame myself for her death to this day."  
"She didn't want to come on this mission. I should have listened to her man. I should have stayed. I should have spent my wedding night making love to her, but instead I had this convoluted idea that we could be heroes and save Maggie without any problems. I was wrong as usual."  
"Come on man. Let's just go to Em and Rosita. Emilie's going to need you." Darryl walks over to Emilie with Aaron. Emilie still has her death grip on Spencer and has become borderline catatonic. "Em, it's me Darryl. I brought Aaron over to you. He's okay."  
Aaron kneels down next to Emilie. "Em. We need to wrap him up to take the body to bury next to Deanna." He puts his hand on her shoulder. Emilie jerks her arm away from Aaron.  
"Don't!! Don't touch me! I have had enough people touching me today!"  
"Come on Em. I'm so sorry for what we went through." Aaron attempts to comfort Emilie who is sobbing harder than ever. "We have to go." He tries his hardest to get her to let go of Spencer's body.  
"Emilie," Rosita begins. "We've got to wrap up Spencer and take him home. Glenn is going to take Maggie to Hilltop with Abe and Sasha. The rest are going home. Spencer would want to be near to his mother."   
"I can't leave him Rosita. He told me that he loved me. That was the only reason that he came with us. I'm one hundred percent the reason that he's dead. All of this is my fault."  
"Please just let us take care f you and take care of Spencer properly," Rosita pleads. "Aaron and Darryl are here. They are here to help us, here to take care of you. Right Aaron?"  
"Absolutely. You're my wife. I love you more than anything." Aaron sees Emilie pick her head up as he's talking. "Em. I love you, and I know you feel responsible for Spencer's death, but it isn't your fault. None of this is, absolutely none of it." Aaron attempts to kneel own again next to Emilie. This time he wraps his arms tightly around her. "Come on Hun. Let's go home."  
Emilie's grasp on Spencer's body loosens enough, and Aaron lifts her up as he stands up. Emilie turns around and falls into Aaron's arms, still sobbing. "I know Babe. I know. We'll get through this, and when all is said and done, if it means that we leave everyone and go out on our own, so be it. I'm done taking risks and taking chances, and I'm sorry that it had to come to this."  
"I thought we were all going to die. Spencer died for us Aaron. He saved yours and my life. I didn't think that he loved me that much."  
"Spencer died a hero and no one will ever forget that," Aaron tells her.  
"You're hurt pretty badly. Your eye will need stitches." She touches his swollen eye and he winces. "I want to make sure that you're okay Aaron. You're all that I have left." Emilie cries out in pain as Aaron tries to hold her tighter. "My ribs...I think that a few may be broken."  
When they get back to Alexandria, the mood is sad and somber. Tara stitches up Aaron's eye and bandages up Emilie's ribs. Rosita and Darryl stay with Aaron and Emilie the entire time, and they even walk back to the house with them. We'll be fine guys. Really," Emilie uses Aaron as a crutch to avoid bending her already very bruised up chest and ribs.  
"Well we want to make sure that you're okay," Rosita says. "We all went through a lot today. We're probably going to bury Spencer tomorrow morning next to Deanna. He deserves a proper burial."  
"I appreciate that Rosita. He was a good guy with a bad reputation that he didn't deserve." Emilie wipes a tear that rolls down her face.  
"I think we should be good if you guys want to go home," Aaron says and sits down on the couch next to Emilie.  
"Are you sure man, because we can stay as long as you need, to help you with whatever you need us to," Darryl offers.  
"Honestly Emilie and I are probably going to go upstairs, clean up, maybe shower, and go to bed.  
"Well I think Darryl and I will sleep on the couch down here. Call it overprotective friends," Rosita tells them.  
Aaron nods at them as he lets Emilie lean into him. They step up the stairs one at a time. The stairs are a hard climb for both of them who are very injured. Tears are streaming down Emilie's face by the time she reaches the top landing from the excruciating pain that she's in. Aaron tries to do his best to reassure Emilie that she will be okay, even through he knows it's not helping her. They walk into their bedroom and everything is as it was left. Aaron's shirt and tie is on the bed. Emilie's wedding dress is still crumpled on the floor where she dropped it. Aaron tries to pick it up, and Emilie yells at him to stop.  
"Stop Aaron! You don't need to hid it. We were married. I'm happy about it."  
"I just thought that it was something you didn't really want to see right now." Aaron watches Emilie closely. She looks down at her hands and her clothes. Her body begins to shake uncontrollably.  
"I have blood everywhere. Spencer's blood is everywhere Aaron. Oh My God. It could be his blood. It could be my blood. Christ it could be your blood too! Oh my God Aaron. So much blood. Why is it all over me? Why can't I get it off of me?" Emilie is frantic as Aaron tries to lead her to the bathroom area.  
"Come on Hun. Let's go get in the shower. We will get this off of you." Aaron pulls Emilie's sweater over her head and unhook her bra. Emilie takes off her own bottoms. Aaron sees Emilie's bandaged ribs and a large handprint-shaped bruise over Emilie's right breast and tries to hide how hard it is for him to see. "Let me get out of these clothes. We'll go together. Aaron is covered with a large number of purple bruises himself. He takes Emilie's hand and leads her into their walk-in shower. He turns the water on warm and wraps his arms around Emilie as the water runs over both of them. Emilie begins to sob hysterically.   
"I thought we were Safe Aaron. Now Spencer's gone. You've gotten beaten up. I got groped by a pervert. Maggie might lose their baby. Everyone else is God knows what level of fucked up... How can I ever believe that we are going to be safe Aaron?" Emilie leans back into Aaron, and he holds her even tighter.  
"I am so sorry. I promise you that you will not go through this alone Em. I am with you every step of the way, and if we could figure out a way to get out of her safely, I will pack up whatever we need to get out of here safely and leave. We're going to leave and it'll be just us." He kisses her. "Don't cry. The blood is gone finally."  
"I still feel like it's there. I feel like I'll never get it off my skin Aaron." She breaks out of Aaron's grasp, grabs the bar of soap, and begins scrubbing away at her hands.  
"Hunny... Hunny...." Aaron tries too stop her as her hands start to become red and raw. "Em, stop!" She falls down and curls into a ball under the running water. Aaron quickly turns off the water, gets out, and wraps a towel around his waist. He finds the softest towel he can, wraps it around Emilie, and scoops her up into his arms. Aaron walks out of the bathroom with Emilie. He puts her down gently on the bed. Aaron pulls on his boxers. He grabs an old t-shirt out of his drawer and a pair of Emilie's underwear and puts them on her. Unfortunately Emilie cannot stop crying. She curls up into the fetal position and sobs into a pillow. "We can't stay here Aaron. I can't look at these people anymore. I feel responsible for what happened to Spencer and I hate it. I know he has friends here, and I know they are going to blame me for every single bit of what happened."  
"It wasn't your fault Emilie. Spencer made the choice to die. He could have knelt there quiet and let Negan kill me or one of the others in fact. You didn't tell him to do what he did. And Negan an his men are absolute soulless monsters. We can go to the lake house after the funeral... Stay there for a few weeks to clear our heads. The amenities aren't as plentiful there, but at least it will be just us."  
"I just feel like I will never get the image of Spencer still alive, delirious, dying, telling me that he loves me. He really did love me," Emilie says.  
"Did you love him back ever," Aaron asks and turns away not wanting to hear the answer. He looks pained when she doesn't answer right away.  
"I cared about him. A lot. Not the way that I care about you, but I did. He was a good guy. You knew him even longer than I did. You know he was a good person. This whole situation was just bad. He told me that he would've tried to hook up with me if it weren't for you." She laughs lightly through her tears.  
"Did you enjoy kissing him," Aaron asks to a very dirty look from Emilie.  
"Why on Earth would you ask me that? Especially now?"  
"I want to know."  
"It doesn't matter. You are and always will be the only man that I truly love. I just wish that the last words that Spencer said weren't telling me that he loves me. I can't get that image of him and the sounds of that damned baseball bat hitting his head and crushing his skull out of my brain. Everything hurts right down to my heart, Aaron."  
Aaron crawls over on the bed next to Emilie and just lays there holding her. His heart is breaking, but he is more concerned with helping Emilie heal both physically and mentally. "I think we're going to go to the lake house after the funeral tomorrow. Negan doesn't want to kill us. He wants us to work for him. I don't think we will be in any danger getting to the house. I know a way out of here that is underground so that no one will see us leave, so it will be inconspicuous enough for us. I just want to pack up some provisions."  
"I think that's what I need Aaron. This reminds me too much of what happened. We will just have to pack enough to bring with us." Emilie nestles into Aaron. "I don't know if I will ever be able to close my eyes again."  
"I know. I feel the same exact way." Aaron tries to do his best to comfort Emilie. A few hours after they lay down, Emilie and Aaron are able to fall somewhat asleep. Emilie however woke up three hours into her slumber, screaming at the top of her lungs. Aaron shakes Emilie awake. Her eyes are open, but they are full of shear, intense horror. Emilie is staring to the side of Aaron, screaming, and pointing at something or someone.  
"NO! YOU CAN'T BE HERE!" By this time Darryl and Rosita have run upstairs to see why there was screaming. "AARON HE'S HERE! HE BROUGHT HIM WITH HIM! HE'S COME BAC TO KILL US BECAUSE. HE CAN'T JUST LET US BE HAPPY HERE!"  
"Em, no one's here. No one is going to hurt us ever again." Aaron tries to reassure her. "You're okay babe."  
"NO! SPENCER'S HERE WITH NEGAN! NEGAN'S TRYING TO KILL US AGAIN! DARRYL, HELP US! AARON WHY AREN'T YOU DOING ANYTHING AGAIN? STOP JUST SITTING THERE SPENCER I AM SO SORRY THAT THIS HAPPENED TO YOU! IT'S ALL MY FAULT."  
Darryl tries to walk over near Emilie where she was, on the opposite side of her as Aaron. He slowly puts his hand on her shoulder. "Em, hunny. It's me 'D'. I want you to look at me. Look at me. Focus on me. See that you're with just me, Aaron, and Rosi." He sees that he's not really getting her attention. "Come on Em!" He grabs Emilie's face in his hands. "Look at me Em!" He lightly shakes her face. Her eyes dart from where she was seeing "Spencer" and "Negan to Darryl and back and forth. "No one's there. Do you see that now?"  
"But...But they were here. I'm not crazy. I know that I saw them Darryl... Tell me I'm not crazy."  
"You're not crazy Em, but no one's here," Darryl tells her and she bursts into uncontrollable sobs. Darryl holds her extremely tightly. Aaron looks on helplessly. Emilie mumbles "I'm not crazy" over and over into Darryl's shoulder through her tears. Darryl does his best to soothe her. It takes quite awhile to calm her down. Emilie lays back into bed and Rosita sits next to her as Darryl and Aaron walk outside of the bedroom to talk and shut the door.   
"I saw this in my brother Merle man," Darryl begins in a hushed whisper. "She is already displaying signs of PTSD. Those hallucinations can be pretty terrifying."  
"She was so sure that she was seeing Negan and Spencer. I didn't know how to break her out of it either," Aaron says. "I felt so helpless."  
"You do when you deal with someone who has PTSD," Darryl tries to be reassuring. "I heard you talking. I think you taking her to that house is a good idea man. Where is it at?"  
"It's about 10 miles outside of Alexandria on a lake. It's close enough but far enough away from all of this. Maybe if you don't mind you could help us move some stuff out there. We just need food basically, and with Em in the state that she's in, I could probably use the protection too in case we run into any issues." Aaron frowns sadly. "I never thought that the day after my wedding, I would be going to a funeral and trying to heal my traumatized wife."  
When Darryl and Aaron walk back into the bedroom, Rosita has gotten Emilie changed into jeans and a sweater. Aaron sees that the blood soaked clothes are balled up and unrecognizable in the trash can. Rosita has brushed out Emilie's hair and French-braided it down her back. She looks like her normal self again, even though Aaron knew full well that she's a shell of what she used to be. "You look as beautiful as ever." Aaron smiled at Emilie, even though she didn't really respond.  
"Did you hear Em," Rosita asks. "Aaron likes how I did your hair for you. I told you he would."  
"Th-Thanks. Should we go to Spencer's funeral now? It's soon right?" Emilie seems completely off.  
"I just have to get dressed."  
"I'm going to go downstairs with Darryl and Rosita. I can't be up here much longer," Emilie says to a sad expression from Aaron.  
"Maybe you could stay with Aaron Em," Darryl suggest. "He has to talk to you about something anyways." Darryl and Rosita sneak out quickly and close the door behind them.  
"I'm sorry about that," Aaron begins. "I need to talk to you though."  
"About what?"   
"I think as long as you're okay with it we will leave right after Spencer's funeral to go to the lake house. We talked about it a little last night. I think it would be good for us."  
"How are we going to get there safe? What if Negan's men find us there alone? Then what?" Emilie is genuinely terrified.   
"It's far enough away... Darryl and Rosita will help us get there. I know you're scared but it'll be better there than here for a little while."  
"I- I guess so," Emilie shivers. "Aaron I want to go to the funeral, but I'm so scared everyone will be staring at me, knowing that I'm the reason that Spencer is dead."


	10. Moving On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaron and Emilie move on from tragedy.

"You aren't Emilie. And they won't be. Everyone knows about the Saviors and how bad they are. Plus, you'll have me by your side the whole time. I'll knock the first person out that dares to make a shitty comment to you." Aaron walks over and hugs Emilie as tightly as he can. She winces. "I'm sorry."  
"I'm so bruised. I wish they'd go away, but I feel like they're going to take forever to heal."  
"Well I'll be here with you through every bit of it." Aaron takes her hand, and they walk down the stairs together.  
The funeral is being held at the church. Someone has already dug a grave next to Deanna, Reg, and Spencer's brother Aidan's graves. A casket is at the head of the aisle with a small cluster of wild flowers on it. Rosita hands Emilie a handful of flowers to put on Spencer's casket. She begins to shake and drops the flowers.  
"I... I don't think that I can do this Aaron," Emilie says softly and begins to shake more.  
"It's okay. You've got this," Aaron quickly wraps his arms around Emilie.  
"No. No I don't," Emilie's knees buckle, and she falls to the ground, tears streaming down her face. Aaron sits down on the ground next to her.  
"We'll get through this. I promise." Aaron doesn't try to make Emilie get up. They sit on the floor in the back of the church as the small funeral begins. When the ceremony comes to a close and people begin filing out, Aaron pulls Emilie off to the side to keep her protected from gawkers. He embraces her and she buries her head into his shoulder. "It's okay Em. You just stay there. You'll be okay babe." Aaron feels Emilie crying into his shoulder.  
"I don't want to be here anymore Aaron. Can we please go to the lake house now? I don't honestly feel comfortable here anymore."  
"Yes absolutely. Anything, anything for you."  
Aaron and Emilie get back to their house and pack up two large packs full of clothes and anything else that they might need. By the time they get downstairs, Rosita and Darryl are waiting to take them with provisions to the new house. Before they walk out, Emilie turns to Aaron.   
"We made the right decision to leave right," she asks. "You think so right?"  
"I do. We will start a new life. Who knows, maybe we might stay there." Aaron let's Emilie out ahead of him, turns a light off, and shuts the door.


End file.
